Will Kyiv's new French fighter jets be better than American F-16s in Ukraine?

In August 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Ukraine received its first F-16 fighter jets during a press conference. While the new fighters will undoubtedly play a big role in the war, they weren’t the only new jets Kyiv was promised. 

French President Emmanual Macron revealed in June 2024 that he intended to sell an unspecified number of French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Kyiv, which he stated would "allow Ukraine to protect its soil" according to Le Monde. 

With two leading Western nations supplying some of their best fourth-generation fighter jets, it begs the question: which of these weapons will provide the most help to Ukraine? Let’s take a look at how each fighter can help to figure out which is best.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multi-role jet that is highly maneuverable and has “proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack” according to the U.S. Air Force. The F-16 brings with it several game-changing strategic benefits for the Ukrainians. 

Ukrainian aviation expert Anatolii Khrapchynskyi highlighted some of the main benefits the F-16 can provide Kyiv for the Associated Press, noting it would boost the Ukrainian Air Force’s capabilities to protect the country and its air spaces from Russian attacks. 

“We will be able to solve a number of problems,” Khrapchynskyi explained, adding that this included "Russia’s massive missile attacks, its use of guided aerial bombs, and the deployment of S-300 installations in the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv."

Khrapchynskyi added that the arrival of F-16s would “significantly help Ukraine to cope with the Russian aggression that is taking place now.” This is a conclusion that experts from the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) would agree with. 

In June 2024, CSIS released a paper exploring how the F-16 could help Ukraine and it pointed out that the fourth-generation fighters would improve Kyiv’s layered air defense network and would help Ukraine hold more Russian targets at risk.  

The Dassault Mirage 2000-5 is also a multi-role fighter jet and is an evolution of its older 2000C predecessor. The Mirage 2000-5 model has been in service for more than twenty-five years according to Le Monde and was labeled a “sky cleaner” by Macron. 

The Mirage was also developed in the 1970s, just like the F-16, but the Mirage 2000-5F, the modified export version of the aircraft France is reportedly preparing to send to Kyiv according to Ukrinform, will complement the F-16 rather than compete with it. 

The Mirage 2000-5 will strengthen Ukraine's air defenses in the same way the F-16 will help but it also be a powerful air asset for use against ground targets like tanks and for launching SCALP cruise missiles against targets, the Kyiv Post reported.  

Mirage 2000-5s could be used in an anti-ship and anti-radar capacity when equipped with "anti-ship Exocet missiles or AS 37 anti-radar projectiles" according to retired military officer Viktor Kevliuk, or they could be used for long-range bombing operations. 

However, where the Mirage 2000-5 will likely really stand out is in its ability to intercept missiles and counter drones, something that Peter Layton of the Royal United Services Institute said may be a role that Ukraine will limit the fighter jets to performing.  

“The Mirage 2000-5 has only a limited range when carrying bombs… I think the small fleet of Mirage 2000-5s that will be provided would be too important to lose,” Layton explained to The Kyiv Independent. 

“This means air defense and firing long-range stand-off missiles is the best use for” the Mirage 2000-5 according to Layton’s assessment. However, it could be a very long time before the world sees the Mirage 2000-5 flying in the skies above Ukraine. 

Defense Express reported in July that French Mirage fighters could be delivered within the next few months according to Gaël Veyssière, the French Ambassador to Ukraine, but he noted the problem wasn’t the airframes but the time needed to train pilots. 

With American-made F-16s already in the air in Ukraine, they will have a head start on making a name for themselves in the conflict. However, when France’s Mirage 2000-5s make their way into the fight, they could turn out to be just as useful as Kyiv’s F-16 fleet.